Improvement in rotary steam-engines



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

. G. WESTINGHOUSE, Jr.

ROTARY STEAM ENGINE.

No. 50,759. Patent ed 051;. 31, 1865.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. WESTINGHOUSE, J1".

ROTARY STEAM ENGINE.

No. 50,759. Patented Oct. 31,1865.

UNITED S ATE GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE, -JR.,-

PATENT OFFICE.

OF SGHENECTADY, NEW YORK.

lM PROVEM EMT in. ROTARY STEAM-ENGINES.

Specification forming'part of Letters Patent No. 50,759, dated October31, 1865.

clear, and exact-description thereof, which will enable others skilledin the art to make-and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part'of this specification, in which- 7Figure '1 is an inside elevationof' the part Aofthe engine, showing,also, the piston F and the center .piece B. Fig. 2' is an'inside e1-evation of the part A. Fig.3 is a section of the center piece, taken onthe line 1-1 of Fig. 6. .Fig. 4 is a view of the center piece fromLthesid'e opposite. to thatshowniu Fig.1. Fig.

5 shows the pistons in the positions they oc-' cupy when the left-handpiston in that figure is about to become movable and the otherstationary, the steam being then out ch. Fig. 6 is a cross-section ofthe engine, taken on the diametrical linew of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is acrosssection of the center piece,'takenon-thc dia-. metrical line a ofFig. 1. Fig. Sis across-section of the center piece, taken on thediametrical line yof Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate like Parts. This inventionconsistsin a.' novel construction of a rotary engine, the cylinderxofwhich is annular and is contained in a disk which is made to revolveabout a hollow stationary shaft, through the opposite ends of which thesteam is admitted and exhausted.

The engine is made in the form of a disk,-

whoseweight and thickness will he or may be made sufficient to make itserve for a balance- .wheel. The disks are made in halves or divisions AA, firinl y connected together by screws The perforation throughtheshaft js divided into two divisions, 0" 0 by a diaphragm, G, which isplaced nearly in a diametrical plane, which would bisect the centerpiece 13.

O- is the passage through which steam is exhausted from the cylinder. Itconnects with an exhaust-portpE, which extends radially throughthe'center piece and opens into the annular cylindrical space Gr. I

'0 is a steam passage through the shaft,

which connects with a circular space, P, made about it in the centerpiece B, from which space a steam-portgP, extenda'radially through thecenter piece to the cylindrical space G.

The communication betweenthe exhaustport E and 'passage'G isalways open,but that between the steam-port? and lhesteam-passage 0 is periodicallyshutfoii' by avalve, l), which projects from a collar. or ring, 0, whichis receivedinthespace P, and which is'made vto revolve therein about theshaft bymeans of aprojection, n, on the edge opposite to that which hasthe valve-projection D, and which projection n fits into a recess madein the part A of the disk. (See Fig. 6. The ring b and v the valve 1) isby this means carried along with the disk or cylinder of the engine inits revolution aboutthe shaft. The valve 1). may be made shorter orlonger than here shown, so

- as to cut off the steam at any desirable part of the revolution of theengine.

a is'a groove made. in that face of the center piece B whichcomes incontact with thepart A of-the .engine. The groove is atrne circle,except at that partot' it'which overlies the exhaust-port P, where it issuddenly bent inward at g-.. This groove receives the pin K of adriving-bolt, j, which slides in a radial groove made for it in the partA of the disk.

The inner endbf the bolt j opens into the same recess which is made inthe part A for bolding the projection n of the valve-ring b. The

outer end of the bolt j protrudes into the cylindrical spaceG duringthat part of the revolution of the disk in which the pin K is travelingthrough the circular part of the groove a;

butit is withdrawn therefrom when the pin H is passing through thebentpart g of the groove.

dis a groove made in the central portion of the part A of the disk, andwhich also has a bend, h, therein like the bend g' of the groove a.

2 sense The groove d receives the pins of a lockingbolt, c, which slidesin aradial groove made for it in the center piece, B. This boltprotrudes into the cylindrical space G at all times, except'when the pina is passing through the bend h of the groove.

so tightly as to prevent their easy movement therein. Each piston is"connected byaplate,

0, with a circular guide, f, of equal diameter with the pistons; but theperipheries of the guides are not packed. Their office is to guide andsteady the'pistons in their movements. The connecting-plates c arecarved on their outer edges to coincide with the curve of the adjacentside of t he cylindrical groove G, along the line of the greatestcircumference of the said groove. It follows from this that the convexsides of the connecting-plates will not fit in any other position in thegrooves Gr than that in which they are represented in the drawings. Thesaid plates extend along the said pistons and their guides in the lineof their diameters, but do .not reach clear across the same, thusallowing room for-the. protruding ends of the bolts i and j to enterbetween the guides f and their respective pistons, as hereinafterexplained.

It will be observed that one bolt, designated j, slides in a receptaclemade for it in the half A of the disk of the engine, and thatconsequently it revolves with-it, whereas the bolt 5, sliding ina,receptacle in the fixed centerpiece, B, has no motion save alongitudinal motion in the receptacle. When the end of the bolt i isprotruded into the steam-space G it remains there until the bent part hof the grooved comes round to the place-of the bolt, when its pin e ispulled inward, thereby causing the bolt to be widthdrawn from the spaceG. At this time the like change has already taken place in the positionof theboltj. When thatbolt is protruded into'the space G, and is engagedwith one of the pistons in the manner shown in Fig. 1, it causes anymotion given to that piston by the pressure of steam to be im-v partedto the disk or. cylinder A A. While such motion is taking place theother piston remains locked in -the position shown in Fig. 1,

. midway'between the steam-portP and exhaustpart g of the groove a, andthe moving piston is allowed tocome up to the other piston, both ofwhich are'then held stationary by the locking-bolt 1' until the bolt jhas moved beyond the bend y, when it will be projected outward so as toengage the stationarypiston, 'andthe bolti will be at that timewithdrawn by means ofthe 'bend'h of groove (1. The pistons arethen--that is, when the bolt 2' is withdrawnfree to move onward towardthe left with the revolving disk or cylinder which incloses them, andthey are so moved by means of the frictional contact between the packededges of the said pistons and the sides of the cylindricalspace G. Thismotion of both pistons o'ontinnes until the bend It has returned the'bolti to its former advanced position in the space Gr,

so as to engage that piston F which is toward the'right, and whichpiston is thereby locked so as to remain stationary between the steamand exhaust ports, whilethe other piston, having been during. thischange driven by the frictional contactof the disk or cylinder beyondthe steam-port, will now receive the pressure of steam and cause thecylinder to revolve, as before explained of the other piston. So soon asthe piston to the left has pased the steamport and engaged the bolt jthe further revolution of the disk causes the valve D to pass thesteam-opening of the passage 0 and the steam will be allowed-to enterbehind said piston and drive it, and consequently the disk, around theshaft 0 and center piece, B, and thereby complete another revolution ofthe engine. The changes in the positions of the pistons are etiected'bymeans of the momentum'ot the disk, since at the time they are a'ciually0c;

curring the suppl y of steam is shut on from the engine.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In rotary engines, the combination of the fixed hollow shaft 0 andfixed. center piece, B,

with the rotating disk A A and independent,

pistons F F, substantially as described.

2. Constructing the pistons F, in the inan- I" ls,

